Sales and operations planning spreadsheet homework

This paper describes an Excel-based application that help teach students the aggregate operations planning portion of the sales and operations planning (S&OP) process. Randomly generated problems allow students as much practice as they need to master the material while reducing their ability to share their answers. The delayed feedback associated with traditional homework is eliminated because of the application's interactive nature. Under the application's guided direction, students can more easily practice calculations related to inventory, capacity, and production and explore the relationship between cost parameters and the relative attractiveness of chase and level production strategies. Instead of delving into individual calculations while grading homework done by hand, faculty can look at special verification information on the worksheets to quickly confirm that each student correctly completed his or her unique assignment. The various learning styles supported by the application are discussed.